Twin-spool holder for twining and spinning machinery

ABSTRACT

Two spools, each with a hollow core, are stacked in a cylindrical housing with the aid of a central body having a hollow stem traversed by a tubular spindle through which the threads from the spools are guided, this body having two axially spaced cylindrical centering surfaces, fitting snugly into adjoining ends of the corresponding spool cores, and an annular ridge between these shoulders separating the cores. The spool cores are removably retained on the central body by oversized elastic discs axially spaced from the cylindrical shoulders.

[50] FieldofSearch................. 2242/1295.

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,119,224 1/1964Kocks.........................,. 57/5852 3,208,690 9/1965 242/1313,388,806 6/1968 Cunningham,.lr.etal... 211/13 3,297,276 1/1967Skufca.......................... 242/131 Primary Examiner-Leonard D.Christian Attorney-Karl F. Ross Inventor Siegfried ScherfMunster-Gremmendorf, Westphalia, Germany Appl. No. 833,280

Filed June 16, 1969 [45] Patented Jan. 5, 1971 Assignee Hamel (;.m.h.H.Zwirnerei-u.

Spinnereimaschinen Munster, Westphalia, Germany a corporation of GermanyPriority June 14, 1968 Germany No. 1,760,637

United States Patent ABSTRACT: Two spools, each with a hollow core, arestacked in a cylindrical housin having a hollow stem travers which thethreads from the spools two axially spaced cylindrical centeringsurfaces, fitti into adjoining ends of the correspondin annular ridgebetween these shoulders The spool cores are removably retained onoversized elastic discs axially s shoulders.

12 l 2 350 H W 25 47 255 ,6 3 1 s In 2 [54] TWIN-SPOOL HOLDER FORTWlNlNG AND SPINNING MACHINERY 10 Claims, 2 Drawing Figs.

[51] Int Cl SIEGFRIED SCHERF I N VEN TOR.

BY {K t R ATTORNEY PATENTEUJAN 5I97l 3552,6923

sum 2 or 2 SCHERF SIEGFRIED I'UR.

BY ja My present invention relates to a twin-spool holder to be used asa supply device for feeding threads from a pair of spools to a twistingor twining mechanism.

In commonly assigned US Pat. .No. 3,119,224 (KOCKS) there has been showna spool holder of this general type in which an upper and a lowerspool,.each with a cylindrically tubular core, are juxtaposed on acommon tubular spindle within a cup-shupcd cylindrical housing open atthe top. The threads from the two spools are guided through that spindleto the bottom of the housing on their way toa takeup reel, with theupper thread passing directly to. the spindle top whereas the lowerthread reaches that top upper spool.

An object of my present invention is to provide a spool mounting of thisgeneral type in which the need for passing the thread of one spoolthrough the core of another spool is avoided, thus simplifying the taskof splicing broken threads and substituting fresh spools for exhaustedones.

It is also an object of my present invention to provide a mounting for apair of spools which are to be held assembled both during transport to atwining mechanism and upon transfer to a thread dispenser associatedwith that mechanism.

It is also an object of this invention to provide an improveddual-thread dispenser which is of compact construction and minimum axiallength to reduce the orbit of aballooning yarn formed from the twodispensed threads.

In order to realize the aforestated objects, I provide a central body onwhich the cores of the two 'spools can be coaxially positioned withsmall axial separation, this body having a peripheral flange in contactwith confronting ends of the two cores and further having a pair ofcylindrical centering surfaces on opposite sides of this flange whichfit snugly into the respective cores. These cores are releasably grippedby respective retaining means, such as oversized annular discs of rubberor other resilient material, which are independent of the associatedcentering surfaces and resist axial separation of the two spools. In theassembled condition, the central body extends into at least one of thecores and preferably into both of them over substantially less than theaxial core length, thereby leaving room for the insertion of anotherseat-forming element into that core from its other end whereby the twostacked spools can be removably mounted on a spindle plate by way of thecore of the of a twining machine as well as on a transport rack orsimilar temporary support.

The invention will be described in greater detail hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. I is a sectional elevational view of a thread dispenser inaccordance with the invention, forming part of an otherwise conventionaltwisting mechanism; and

FIG. 2 is an elevational view, partly in section, of a transport rackfor a plurality of two-spool stacks of the type shown in FIG. 1.

The mechanism shown in the drawing comprises a tubular spindle Itraversing the bottom 3 of-a cylindrical housing 2 open at the top, thisbottom being provided with a boss 30 forming a seat for a pair of spools8, 8 having tubular cores 9 of cylindrical shape. Boss 30 extends partlyinto the lower end of core 9 which also projects into an ,annular groove24 of housing bottom 3. The housing or cage 2 surrounds the spools withenough annular clearance 7 to'allow their respective threads 10, 11 tobe drawn off along the inner peripheral housing wall even when thebobbin body 25, 25' of each spool is at full size. v

A pulley 6 on a shaft 1', forming an independently rotatable downwardextension of spindle l, is engaged by a belt 31 which rotates this shaftas shown by arrow A. Pulley 6 is integral with a disc 5 carrying afrustoconical shield 4 which deflects the yarn l0, 11 as it emerges fromthe lower end of spindle I within shaft 1' and passes outwardly througha port 32 in disc 5 on its way to a guide 33'above housing 2. A takeupreel, not shown, draws the yarn upwardly (arrow B) at a speed which, asis well known, is related to the rotary speed of shaft 1' in accordancewith the desired rate .of twist. A stationary shell 34 surrounds thecage 2, 3 to limit the excursion of the ballooning yarn 10, ll; shell 34carries several bar magnets 35 which hold the cage 2, 3 against rotationby cooperating withbar magnets 36 (only one shown) on that cage, in themanner disclosed in commonly owned application Ser. No. 810,464 filedMarch 26, 1969 by A. Greive and A. Treus.

In accordance with my present invention, cores 9 and 9' are separated bya thin annular ridge or flange 18 on a central body l4 which is formedwith a pair of centering surfaces 22, 22' of cylindrical shape receivedwith close fit in the adjoining ends of cores 9 and 9 whose confrontingfaces l7, 17' rest against the ridge 18. Body 14 has a central boretraversed by a hollow stem 13 which in turn surrounds the'spindle l;stem 13 may be removably inserted intobody 14 with frictional fit orwith threaded engagement.

In=order to prevent untimely separation of spools 8 and 8', body 14 isfurther provided with retaining means in the form of a pair of oversizedannular discs 20, 20' on opposite sides of its flange 18, these discsbeing sprung into annular grooves 21, 21 that are axially spaced fromcentering surfaces 22, 22'; the intervening body portions of smallerdiameter have been designated 23 and 23'. The remote boundary ofeachgroove 21, 21', as seen from the core junction 18, is formed by atransverse shoulder on ahead 19, l9whose diameter exceeds that ofportion 19,19- but is slightly less than that of surface 22, 22' so thata small gap remains: between each of these heads and the inner wallsurface l6, 16. of the corresponding core. It will be apparent that,upon introduction of body 14 into core 9, the edge of retaining disc 21deflects upwardly into the clearance around body portion 23 so thatlittle force is required to overcome the frictional resistance of thatdisc; when it is desired to extract the body 14 from core 9, thefrictional resistance of retaining element 20 is increased since theupper face of head 19 prevents reverse-deformation of the disc edge sothat considerably greater force is required-to disassemble the parts.The same applies, of course, with reference to gripping element 20' andcore 9.

Since the body 14 does not occupy more than a small fraction of theinterior of each core, extending-over less than half the axial corelength 15 or 15, the stack '8, 8' held together by body 14 can beremovably mounted on some other temporary support such as, for example,a boss 28 on a transport rack 26 shown in FIG. 2. Rack 26 is formed withtwo or more pairs of casters 27 (only two shown) and is provided with amultiplicity of bosses 28 to receive a like number of stacks, a rod 29projecting outwardly from each boss to pass through the central bore ofthe body 14 from which the stem 13 of FIG. I has been removed. Thus, asclearly illustrated in FIG. 2, a stack of spools 8, 8 can beprogressively built by first placing a core 9 with spool 8 on a boss 28,then inserting a body 14 until its ridge l8 strikes the inserted core,andthereafter adding the second core 9 with its spool 8'. If desired, afurther core-and spool could be added to the stack with the aid of asecond body 14 fitted onto the free end of rod 29, such an arrangementenabling the twining of three threads by the dispenser shown in FIG. 1.

Thus, the assembly, transportation, operative positioning. removal anddisassembly of astack of two (or more) spools according to my inventioncan be carried out in a simple and efficient manner.

I claim:

1. A supply device for simultaneously dispensing threads from twospools, comprising a pair of coaxially juxtaposed cylindrically tubularcores having respective spools wound thereon, a central body coaxiallypositioned within said cores, said body having a peripheral-ridgeincontact with confronting ends of said cores, and retaining meanscarried by said.

' body on opposite sides of said ridge'forreleasably gripping said coresfrom within, said body being provided with a pair of cylindricalcentering surfaces independent of said retaining fitting engagement withsaid confronting ends of said cores, said body projecting into at leastone ofsaid cores over substantially less than the axial core length.

2. A device as defined in claim l wherein said retaining means comprisesa pair of oversized resilient annular discs axially spaced from saidcentering surfaces for free peripheral deformation upon insertionthereof into a corresponding core.

3. A device as defined in claim 2 wherein said body is pro vided withaxial shoulders disposedim'rnediately beyond said discs in the directionof insertion for preventing reverse deformation thereof, said shouldershaving smaller diameters than said centering surfaces.

4. A device as defined in claim 3 wherein said body is formed withannular grooves adjoining said shoulders, said discs being resilientlyfitted in said grooves; r

5. A device as defined in claim 1, further comprising a cylindricalhousing coaxially surrounding said spools and forming a central seat forsaid one of said cores.

6. A device as defined in claim 5 wherein said housing has a bottomprovided with a central bossformingsaid seat. said boss projectingpartly into said one of said cores.

7. A device as defined in claim'6 wherein said bottom is formed with anannular groove around said boss receiving an end of said one of saidcores. 1

8 A device as defined in claim 6, further comprising a hollow spindletraversing said boss, said spindle extending axially beyond said housingfor receiving threads from both said spools.

9. A device as defined in claim 8, further comprising a hollow stemtraversing said body and extending axially therebeyond, said spindlepassing through said stem.

10. In combination, a plurality of supply' devices as defined in claim 1and a movable rack with a plurality of bosses each entering said one ofsaid cores of a respective supply device for removably supporting sameon said rack.

1. A supply device for simultaneously dispensing threads from twospools, comprising a pair of coaxially juxtaposed cylindrically tubularcores having respective spools wound thereon, a central body coaxiallypositioned within said cores, said body having a peripheral ridge incontact with confronting ends of said cores, and retaining means carriedby said body on opposite sides of said ridge for releasably grippingsaid cores from within, said body being provided with a pair ofcylindrical centering surfaces independent of said retaining meansdisposed on opposite sides of said ridge for snugly fitting engagementwith said confronting ends of said cores, said body projecting into atleast one of said cores over substantially less than the axial corelength.
 2. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein said retaining meanscomprises a pair of oversized resilient annular discs axially spacedfrom said centering surfaces for free peripheral deformation uponinsertion thereof into a corresponding core.
 3. A device as defined inclaim 2 wherein said body is provided with axial shoulders disposedimmediately beyond said discs in the direction of insertion forpreventing reverse deformation thereof, said shoulders having smallerdiameters than said centering surfaces.
 4. A device as defined in claim3 wherein said body is formed with annular grooves adjoining saidshoulders, said discs being resiliently fitted in said grooves.
 5. Adevice as defined in claim 1, further comprising a cylindrical housingcoaxially surrounding said spools and forming a central seat for saidone of said cores.
 6. A device as defined in claim 5 wherein saidhousing has a bottom provided with a central boss forming said seat,said boss projecting partly into said one of said cores.
 7. A device asdefined in claim 6 wherein said bottom is formed with an annular groovearound said boss receiving an end of said one of said cores.
 8. A deviceas defined in claim 6, further comprising a hollow spindle traversingsaid boss, said spindle extending axially beyond said housing forreceiving threads from both said spools.
 9. A device as defined in claim8, further comprising a hollow stem traversing said body and extendingaxially therebeyond, said spindle passing through said stem.
 10. Incombination, a plurality of supply devices as defined in claim 1 and amovable rack with a plurality of bosses each entering said one of saidcores of a respective supply device for removably supporting same onsaid rack.